The Mirror of Desire
by EresseaL
Summary: When the Weasleys make wishes on a mirror that is brought to a family gathering, they discover a world where Voldemort was not defeated that fateful Halloween night when he attacked the Potters' home. Note: Not quite the same as Of Mirrors and Wishes.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: WARNING: There is another version of this story on other sites called "Of Mirrors and Wishes" that has a major character change done to make it compatible with those sites' new requirements that came up after HBP. I think this version's better, but if you started reading on a different site, be warned. This version is almost entirely Pre-HBP with a few changes to make events more probable in consideration of the new book.

The Mirror of Desire

By Eressea

Chapter 1

April 1983

Nymphadora Tonks tiptoed through the dark halls of Malfoy Manor, listening carefully for the noise of approaching footsteps. She quickly pressed herself against a tapestry when she thought she heard a door creak around the corner. If there were any Death Eaters approaching, their heavy boots on the hardwood floor would certainly give them away. There was nothing but a soft snuffling sound. A house elf, perhaps? She crouched low, a man might miss something so small and a house elf could be made to keep silent. Slowly, she peered around the corner and found herself looking into a pair of sleepy gray eyes. She sighed, exasperated.

"Go back to sleep Draco."

"But Nymphadora, I'm thirsty. I need a glass of water."

"I said go back to sleep."

"And _I_ said I'm thirsty."

Silently cursing all stubborn, spoiled four-year-olds in the world who would not listen to people nine years their senior, she hissed, "Have Mipsy or Dobby to get it for you. No buts," she cut him off. "Back to bed or I'll tell Aunt Narcissa about those cookies you stole yesterday as soon as she gets back from London."

Faced with this dire threat, the child mournfully slunk back to bed, leaving Tonks to her task. She crept down to the drawing room and pulled back the carpet under the stairs. Though complex locking charms would not be taught until next year, her Aunt Bellatrix had trained the girl so thoroughly that she easily surpassed all the other Second Years in Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. She pulled out her wand and muttered several charms in quick succession, charms that she had many times heard her aunts pronounce, then slipped as silently as a shadow though the trapdoor and closed it behind her. Stepping in front of a chest full of files, she began to comb through them to find her Muggle-loving mother's whereabouts on the night of March 28, 1983, a few weeks previous. She knew that her Aunt Bella kept careful records of the woman's comings and goings, especially on nights when she may have need of an alibi; the two sisters looked so much alike. Tonks knew that if she could figure out where her mother was that night her aunt had gone to interrogate the Longbottoms, Bellatrix could be proven innocent as long as Uncle Lucius managed to get her a trial. If Andromeda had been in pubic and someone had seen her, Bellatrix could claim that she had been in that place at that time. Finally her mother would be of some use to her family. Tonks was filled with anger at the thought of how the day six years ago when her twin brothers were killed at the age of eleven in a forest by Muggles hunting deer, her mother had been cavorting about in some restaurant with her Muggle-born first husband. Though her dad had loved Andromeda so much that he took her back after things didn't work out between Andromeda and the Muggle-born, Tonks was never able to forgive her for her irresponsibility and for shaming the family. Now it was just Tonks and her parents left. Both of them were now in Mexico where they worked as treasure hunters for Gringotts in the ancient temples, so it was up to her alone to save Aunt Bella from the dementors.

Tonks shifted through the damp papers that clung to one another. She had figured out that they were sorted by date and was now searching for the current year. 1965. 1968. 1974. The name "Orion" caught her attention. Her elder brother who had been killed by Muggles. She pulled out the sheet of parchment.

February 8, 1974

Name: Orion Ramsey

Lineage: Unknown Muggle-born father. Mother is

Pureblood Andromeda Tonks.

_No wonder Aunt Bella and Aunt Narcissa never wanted her in the house, _Tonks thought. _She had children with that Muggle-born she divorced!_ Tonks skimmed through attack plans detailing a kidnapping from a camping trip on February 12. At the bottom of the page she found the words "Status: Eliminated." She nearly dropped the parchment. _They killed my brother. It wasn't Muggles. They killed my brother._ She looked back to where she was in the chest and found a nearly identical parchment for her other little brother. She sat in silence for several moments, then heard heavy footsteps above her head. Her Uncle Lucius was home. Tonks quickly resumed her mission and flipped though the last sheets of parchment, looking for her mother's name. 1978 Gideon and Fabian Prewett. 1980 Harry Potter. 1981 Horace Bones. 1983 Ted Tonks. What was her father doing in Aunt Bella's files?

April 4, 1983

Name: Ted Tonks, suspected Auror

Tonks' heart leapt into her throat. Hands shaking, she sped through the rest of the report.

Lineage: Muggle-born

Mission: On the evening of April 13 search his home for records concerning wife Andromeda's. . .

_My father is a Pureblood. And that's tonight! If they thing he's Muggle-born. . ._ Tonks skipped to the bottom of the page and felt some of the tension in her body release when she found the words "Status: Living." _I have to warn him, _she thought, morphing her body to match that of one of the laundry maids who did work house elves were not capable of. The paper warmed in her hand, as if it had sensed her malignant thoughts against it. She threw it down, not knowing where to run if it were cursed, as footsteps upstairs had not yet ceased. But nothing happened. No sparks, no explosions. Warily, Tonks leaned forward, looking to see if anything had happened to the parchment. One word was twisting and morphing before her eyes. The ink that once shaped the word "Living" now spelled out "Eliminated."

June 1999

"Tonks! Tonks!" Charlie called, shaking his wife first slowly, then more roughly.

Tonks gasped, sitting up abruptly and grabbing him about the torso.

"Hey, it's okay. It's fine now," he said, kissing her temple.

"I dreamt about the night Lucius killed my father. That night my entire life was turned upside down."

"I know. And what were you doing sleeping when you're supposed to be getting ready to go to Mum's house?" he added trying to lighten the tone

"No you don't know, and I am ready," Tonks replied in one breath. How could you know what it's like to find out you haven't got the pure blood that you prided yourself on and that you're next on the hit list on the people who you thought loved you? That your father's dead and that the mother you despised was a good woman, far better than the ones you admired."

Charlie let her continue to rant on about how she had to go live with her mother and discovered the humanity of people she had always looked down on. Finally getting fully out of her dream she turned to her husband. "So are you ready yet?"

"Just about. I've just got to pack up the presents," he said, getting up to pull them out of the closet. "Mum and Dad, he muttered aloud putting their respective presents into the sack. Fred and George. Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione. Percy, Penny, Brianna, Ryan. Bill, Zhara, Sagira. He looked at the tags on two of the gifts more closely. "These aren't the same size. Did you get Ryan and Brianna different toys?"

"Of course. Ryan's one and Brianna's three. They wouldn't like the same things anyway."

"Yeah, but then they'll be constantly fighting over who's is better."

"So what do you want me to do, run out and buy new gifts for Ryan, Brianna, and Sagira too while I'm at it?"

"No way. You'd spend half a lifetime trying to find the perfect toy that's good for all of them while we're already late."

"The problem is that there are just too many children in your family."

"You think so?" Charlie asked, wrapping his arms around her. "I was just thinking that there aren't enough. And it's our turn to provide the next one."

"We've been over this a hundred times," Tonks responded, pulling away slightly. "I told you that I don't feel ready for a baby. You grew up with five little brothers and sisters. But I was the youngest and don't even know how to buy kids gifts. What if I mess up and something happens to it?"

"Sweetie. You need to let go and live your life," Charlie told her, rubbing her back. "I know the past has made you terrified of what would happen if you lose a baby. But trust me. I'll take care of the both of you. And we can have lots of kids, to keep on loving you even if tragedy does strike."

"You don't really think that we can replace them that easily do you?"

"Of course not. But I know how the love of a family can get you through the toughest of times. When my parents and Uncle Fabian died, Mum and Dad adopted me and Bill and never let us feel that we weren't loved. I still had my elder brother and then a new little brother."

"You make it sound as if the loss of you parents never hurt."

"It certainly did. I threw all sorts of tantrums, screaming for Mum to give me back to my parents and sometimes running away, hoping they'd find me." Charlie winced. "All that fussing couldn't have been good for Mum; she was several months pregnant with the twins at the time. But she never screamed back at me or let me spend too much time pitying myself. And the time I managed to get myself good and lost in the woods by the Burrow and was looking around wondering if my parents would be able to find me, it was Dad who discovered me crying at the base of a tree. I think it was then when I saw how worried they were about me that I realized that they actually cared."

"Your parents do love taking in their little lost sheep. First you and Bill, then Harry."

"Mm, I think Harry's taking quite a bit longer than I did to see how much they love him. I guess it's because he was already twelve and in boarding school by the time they met, while I was only five and Mum could spend all her free time with us kids," Charlie continued, not noticing how Tonks had smoothly managed to change the subject.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Lots of thanks go out to my friend HK and my betas Kelleypen and Jo Wickaninnish. So you know, there is another version of this story on other sites called "Of Mirrors and Wishes" that has a major character change done to make it compatible with those sites' new requirements that came up after HBP. I think this version's better, but if you started reading on a different site, be warned. This version is almost entierly Pre-HBP with a few changes to make itmore possible in consideration of the new book.

The Mirror of Desire

By Eressea

Chapter 2

June 1999

Charlie Apparated into the Weasley garden carrying a large bundle, closely followed by Tonks. He walked through the back door to the kitchen where he found his father tending to several large pots bubbling cheerily on the hearth.

"Charlie! Tonks!" Arthur exclaimed, calling his daughter-in-law by the maiden name that had stuck even after she was married. "Ron, Harry, and Hermione are the only ones here," he said, hugging the two of them in turn. "Your mother left a little while ago and put me on kitchen duty so she could pick up Ginny from the Hogwarts Express. She should be back in fifteen minutes or so."

"Don't even know why she had run off and leave Dad to burn all our food; Ginny could have just Apparated back on her own," Ron said, as he walked into the kitchen, closely followed by Harry and Hermione.

"Well, its been a while since Mum's been out of the village and she wanted a change of scenery," Arthur muttered, trying to calm a pot that was boiling rather exuberantly and shooting jets of green liquid at the ceiling. "And I'm not sure how skilled Ginny would be at Apparating home with a trunk full of magical objects."

"She's fine at—aah!" Ron yelped as Fred and George Apparated somewhere near the ceiling and fell on top of him in a tangle of limbs and gifts. "Why do you do these things?" he shouted.

"Well, isn't it obvious that if we'd Apparated onto the floor we might've splinched into you," Fred replied smoothly.

"That's what the garden is for," Ron growled back.

"Ah, and isn't it the man of the hour," George exclaimed, ignoring Ron as he spied Harry near the door.

"We were worried you wouldn't make it for your own holiday," Fred declared, striding over to him.

"And I was just telling Fred here that you'd make a perfect centerpiece on Harry Potter Day," George said, sliding an arm over Harry's shoulders. "We could stick an apple in your mouth, add some flowers for your hair, and you'd be ready to go!"

"Lovelier than the Christmas tree gnome-angel," Fred agreed, ruffling his hair.

"Couldn't we just call it the Thirtieth of June?" Harry pleaded, seeing Ginny levitating a trunk through the garden door with her mother right behind her.

"Of course not!" Fred said happily. "Why, witches and wizards all over Europe are gathering together to celebrate the first anniversary of the day Harry Potter defeated You Know Who, not the last day of June and the end of the school term."

"It's a day of heroism!" George exclaimed. "The day when half the existing Death Eaters were caught!"

"A day of romance! When our little Ronniekins finally proposed to the lovely Miss Granger!" Fred said, nodding at Hermione, who rolled her eyes at him.

"A day of freedom! With the Death Eaters gone and Mum still busy with wedding preparations, we've been able to go about our business without anyone hounding our steps for an entire year."

"And speaking of romance and weddings, when are you going to get yourself a girl? That Protecting-Her-From-Your-Enemies excuse is getting a bit old."

Harry's face was getting rather hot, and he began to stammer when he saw Ginny's eyes on him. "I, er, well—"

Harry was saved from having to respond when Percy shot out of the fireplace with a bawling three-year-old in one arm and a box that containing gifts for the family in the other. He stumbled over to his mother as his wife Penelope appeared in the fireplace, trying to keep her grip on a squirming one-year-old who was chanting, "Again! Again!"

"Ooh, what's wrong with Grandma's little angel?" Molly cooed, relieving Percy of the toddler so that he could gather up the spilled contents of the box that had been kicked out of his hand. "Why don't you put those in the corner of the sitting room?" she instructed him. "You too," she said, looking at the mess Fred and George had left on the floor when they knocked Ron over. "And take your trunk upstairs, Ginny."

"Now what happened to my little Brianna?" Molly asked the little girl as Fred, Charlie, and Percy carried the gifts into the sitting room. "You bumped your finger in the Floo?" she asked, kissing the finger Brianna had mournfully held out."

"And I'm hungry," she added, rubbing her belly.

"How's my favorite nephew?" Tonks asked, taking the baby from Penny as he tried to launch himself out of his mother's arms to get to her. "You look perfectly lovely. And what's that there? You have a little tummy!" she exclaimed, tickling him and causing him to squeal with delight. The baby seemed to have wanted Tonks for her hair, which was presently long, bright purple, and being eaten by a one-year-old.

"Grandma, I want pie," Brianna informed Molly.

"Not yet. We can eat after everyone gets here," Molly replied.

"But we're all hungry, and you can never tell exactly what time Bill will get back from Egypt," Ron put in.

"Stop whining and take your niece while I check on the food so it doesn't get burnt," Molly replied, pushing Brianna into Ron's arms.

Considering the importance food held for the two of them, this seemed an agreeable compromise, and Ron began bouncing the toddler up and down.

"Ron has a point," Tonks said, laying the baby in a cradle that stood in the corner of the kitchen and looking at her watch. "Bill and Zhara are an hour late. The Department of Magical Transportation isn't usually this backed up, even on holidays."

"They're flying into London the Muggle way," Charlie explained as he returned to the kitchen. "Zhara doesn't really trust magical transportation all that much, especially with such a young child. She was only introduced into the magical world two years ago; she's just comfortable with what she knows," he added, seeing the shocked look on Molly's face and knowing that she felt the exact opposite when it came down to choosing between magical and Muggle methods.

"See, totally unreliable timing," Ron exclaimed. "I think we should just eat now and save a bit for them."

"Yep," Brianna agreed. "Pie now."

"Ron, have a little patience. You're going to have to learn to go more than two hours without eating," Molly said, putting the fish into the oven. "You too," she told the cat at her feet that was trying to get to the fish. "Harry, George, please set up the tables outside."

Ron retreated to the sitting room with Brianna curled up on his chest and a pie hidden behind his back. Brianna's eyes widened with delight when she saw it.

"Well, what do you think we should do now to pass the time until Uncle Bill arrives?" he asked after they finished it.

"More?" Brianna asked, her face covered with blueberry.

"Grandma will get ideas," he told her. "We'd slink in the kitchen as quietly as we can, head for the pies, and be spotted, because Grandma has eyes in the back of her head, you know. Then she'll put us, or rather me, to work, washing dishes and pealing vegetables."

"I want pie. Pie."

"Mmm," he mused, kissing her on the top of the head, "you're lucky that a lack of pie is the only worry you have in life. Enjoy it while you can. I'd give anything to never have to worry about my best friends losing their lives in battle. War is a terrible thing. So many lives were ruined." Seeing that he had lost her attention, he changed the subject.

"Do you want to hear the story of your Mummy and Daddy?"

"Nah-uh."

"Okay, I'll tell you about Uncle Bill, Auntie Zhara, and the wicked Frenchwoman. You like that one, right?" Brianna nodded eagerly. "Great. Well, this Frenchwoman, she was part Veela. Now as you know, when they are happy, Veela take the form of women, the most beautiful women you've ever seen. Their long flowing hair appears to be blowing in the wind even if there's no breeze, their song will entrance even the hardest of hearts, and they every man who sees them falls madly in love with them. But despite their beauty, they're wicked at heart; they don't care about the men at all. In the mountains of their native country, they lure men into their territory and then shoot them with deadly arrows. And you know what country Veela come from, right?"

The child shook her head, her mouth rounded into a small O in anticipation and wonder.

"Bulgaria!" Ron exclaimed.

Brianna gasped.

"That's right, she's from the land of an evil, wicked people who run about robbing others of their girlfriends. And boyfriends," he added as an afterthought. "The Veela love attention. They'll make timid men daring enough to try anything to impress them. I know two boys who tried to jump off the top box in the Quidditch stands, just to prove their worth to them."

"Do the girls jump off Quidditch stands too?" Brianna asked, mesmerized.

"No, the girls get angry. Especially if they were in love with one of the boys under the Veela's spell. You see, the Veela pride themselves on being able to make other women envious of their beauty. But when their tricks don't work, especially if it's because there is a woman even lovelier than them, they become desperately jealous and transform into hideous birdlike creatures, intent on destroying the woman. Now Fleur, she had her eye on your Uncle Bill, who she thought was very handsome. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get her to love her. And this was because he was already in love with an Egyptian Muggle with beautiful brown eyes and hair as dark as the night. Since Fleur was only one quarter Veela, she did not turn into a bird, but she still become terribly jealous. And when she found out that the woman he chose over her was not only a human, but a Muggle as well, her jealousy turned to fury. So she hatched a plan for Uncle Bill to fall in love with her. And she wouldn't be content with a kiss to prove his adoration; no, she wanted him to declare his love for all eternity. She decided that they had to be married, no matter what the cost. She refused to allow him to be with a Muggle when she had chosen him to love only her. So she went deep into the dungeons of her castle, lit a flame beneath her cauldron, and brewed a potion so potent that when coupled with her charms it would make any ordinary man hers forever. But she underestimated both the strength of the love he and Auntie Zhara shared and how hard Auntie Zhara was willing to work to get Uncle Bill back," Ron told Brianna, but was cut off by voices on the stairs to the sitting room.

"I do understand what Quidditch does for him, but he just doesn't seem happy to me. It's like he's holding himself back, not allowing himself to just settle down," Hermione was saying.

Ron pulled Brianna back out of his lap as Hermione and Ginny entered the room. "What are you talking about?" he asked, walking over to them.

"Harry," Hermione replied. "He seems just as sombre as he was during the war. It's been a full year now. He needs to start living his life."

"He hasn't mentioned anything about still feeling responsible for the personal safety of every single person in the entire wizarding world, did he?" Ginny asked, exasperated.

"No," Ron answered. "We got over that one when we convinced him to play Quidditch instead of going through Auror training with me. He just seems a bit depressed now."

"About what?" Hermione seemed perplexed but perfectly in her element with a problem to solve. "The pressure to defeat Voldemort is off. He can't still be mourning those who died in the war; everyone who was close to him survived. Today's a day to celebrate and be happy. He couldn't be _that_ annoyed about the whole 'Harry Potter Day' thing."

"Um, well, you two might have left him out of things a little since you got engaged," Ginny suggested. "I mean, all I've heard you talk about for the past month has been the wedding, Hermione."

"You've got a point Ginny," Hermione admitted, looking rather ashamed. "This might be making him terribly aware of the fact that he hasn't found anyone yet. He was so afraid of putting anyone in danger through association with him during the war that he hasn't seen anyone since he was sixteen."

"Ginny," Ron suggested, "maybe you ought to—"

"Bill's here!" Harry announced, poking his head through the doorway.

"Yeah, now we can eat pie!" Brianna exclaimed.

Hermione frowned at Harry as she followed him past the kitchen, around the corner of the oddly shaped hallway, and out the front door.

Outside, a blue rental car pulled up in front of the Burrow as the Weasleys gathered in the yard to greet the Bill and his family. A lovely Egyptian Muggle stepped out of the driver's seat. Her thick black hair was pulled back into a practical braid and her khaki shorts and sturdy boots spoke of her background in archaeology. She climbed into the back of the car and unbuckled a sleeping one-year-old from her car seat.

On the other side of the car, Bill slid from his seat and went to the trunk, performing several unlocking charms before opening it with the key his wife had handed him. He then pulled out not a bundle of gifts, but instead a large, thin rectangular object wrapped in paper, and levitated it into the house.

"Zhara!" Ginny squealed, hugging her sister-in-law and kissing the baby before they followed Bill into the sitting room, the rest of the Weasleys behind them. "How was the trip back from Egypt? Did the baby take it okay? And where's my present?" Ginny asked, seeing Bill sit down on the couch instead of making a second trip to the car.

"This is a present for all of you," Bill replied. With a flick of his wand he Vanished the paper, revealing an ornate silver mirror. The varnish had dulled and every crevice was filled with dust, particularly the ones at the top of the frame that seemed to form a grotesque human face when viewed while squinting. "Zhara found it last week on a dig in Cairo. Absolutely fascinating. It appears to be of Greek origin, so it must have been a very important person who had it shipped all the way to Egypt." Seeing that his younger siblings did not seem to find an old mirror to be an adequate present to share, Bill hurried to explain.

"It's a powerful magical object, so we brought it here to England; it can't go into that Muggle museum Zhara works for. I thought we might have a go with it before I turn it in to the Ministry."

"An enchanted mirror?" Hermione gasped. "I've read that those can be very temperamental. "Some, like the Mirror of Erised, will only show you your greatest desires but not grant them; others will show you whatever you ask of it; and others will give you whatever you ask, but tend to trick you into ruin. Once a man in Constantinople demanded a thousand pounds of gold and was instantly crushed by it."

"That's all true, but believe me, we have unearthed the mother of all magic mirrors. Or rather granddaughter, since it actually younger than most versions," he said thoughtfully. "Anyway, this is the Mirror of Desire. No tricks, no games, no riddles. It'll give you exactly what you wish for; its main purpose is to make whoever looks into it happy and satisfied."

"The Mirror of Desire doesn't exist," Percy insisted. "It's a legend, nothing more. All my sources are most reliable, and they say that . . ."

"Well, it turns out they're wrong. I've already deciphered all the inscriptions with a little help from one of my colleagues. We are here with the opportunity of a life—"

"Can we eat now?" Brianna asked loudly. "Just a little pie?"

"No," Percy said in an annoyed tone.

"Even Paws is hungry," Brianna insisted, gesturing towards the gray cat, who had perked up at the word "eat," but was now staring mournfully at Molly from his place under the table.

"You don't interrupt when grown-ups are talking," Percy scolded her. "Do it again and there will be no pie at all for you. Now," he said, turning back to Bill, "I want to get a closer look at this mirror. How do you make a wish?"

"Well, you have to do a charm to activate it. After that, you just stand in front if it and concentrate on your wish. Even if you're not looking at it, it should work, but I'm not sure if there's a limit to the number of wishes each person gets."

"That sounds way too simple," Hermione interjected. "Are you certain of its good intentions?"

"Positive. The tone and content of runes along the edges are all strong evidence of its construction by benevolent wizards," Bill replied. "I've done load of research, trust me."

"Well then, I suppose we could give it a try," Arthur said, exchanging a glance with his wife.

"Everybody ready," Bill asked as he raised his wand. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny exchanged glances. Tonks looked down at the necklace her father had given her and breathed deeply in concentration. Molly shut her eyes tight and began muttering to herself. "One, two, three," Bill said, and then tapped his wand on the surface of the glass. "_Aquaespeclora_!" A breeze swept past them, augmenting until it rattled the windowpanes and set the baby wailing, and then retreated abruptly. The Weasleys looked around at each other.

"Did anyone get their wish?" Zhara asked.

"I don't know. I don't think so," Molly said, looking heartbroken.

"Shall I Floo Angelina and ask if she'll get back together with me?" Fred volunteered.

"All I wished for was pie, and I still don't have that," whined Brianna, holding out her empty hands.

"Why didn't anything happen?" Harry wondered aloud.

A long horizontal crack in the designs in at the top of the frame above the mirror split open and emitted a voice. "Because you are selfish, insatiable fools!" the mirror growled in response, and the glass surface that had reflected the sitting room of the Burrow now showed a spacious dining room containing a long table and stately fireplace that caused Molly to gasp with recognition.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: I'd like to thank my betas Kelleypen and Jo Wicaninnish for all their help with this fic.Warning: If you've started "Of Mirrors and Wishes" on other sites, you should know that this is not exactly the same. This islacking a major character change made to make it more compatible with HBP.

The Mirror of Desire

By Eressea

Chapter 3

July 1997

"Just about ready to set off for the Burrow?" Charlie asked his girlfriend, taking the pile of gifts from her arms and adding them to the already bulging sack he had set before the dining room fireplace.

"There are still a couple presents left," she said, wiping the sweat from her brow and turning back to the stairs to get the gifts. "This heat is killing me. Why doesn't your family choose a day in the winter to celebrate Christmas like everyone else?"

"They prefer to do it at random. During the Christmas Massacre when I was nine, the Lestranges made an attack on my dad and Uncle Fabian. Ever since then Aunt Molly's been even more paranoid than most people. We don't even have Christmas on the same day every year," Charlie said, following her upstairs. "I think it was Taylor's choice this year. July, purely for the sake of being weird. That's what happens when you give the task to an eleven-year-old who lives to annoy me. And tease Ron. And Ginny. And everyone smaller than he is. And everyone else."

"He can't be that bad," Charlie's girlfriend insisted, tossing her raven hair over her shoulder as she bent down to pick up a large purple box.

"Well, Juanita, he would be that bad if he could. But he doesn't have many available victims since I'm rarely at the Burrow, Ginny spends most of her time at Hogwarts, and Ron can always get Grace to beat him up."

"That tiny little girl?"

"She's small, but tough. Rachel was just the same when she was eight," Charlie replied, leading the way back downstairs.

June 1999

"That makes no sense," Ron insisted, giving the scene playing out before him in the mirror an accusatory look. "Charlie looks about twenty-four, so I should be seventeen or so. Why would I need little girls to fight eleven-year-olds for me? What is this place?"

"Prewett Manor," Molly answered. "I grew up there and my parents left it to my brother Gideon. It burned down Christmas Eve of 1978 when Gideon and Fabian died and the Lestranges stole everything else we had," she explained, her voice breaking slightly.

"Did you wish that your brothers were still alive?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Molly answered sombrely.

"Perhaps we're seeing what would have happened if we had got our wishes," Hermione suggested. "They are still alive, so Charlie was raised by Gideon Prewett instead of the Weasleys."

"But the Mirror of Erised is the one that shows you what you wish for," Harry pointed out. "Shouldn't this actually grant them?"

"It's refusing to do it for some reason. Maybe something really horrible would happen," Ron put in.

"How could that be?" Molly asked, turning back to the mirror. "We only wished for good things."

July 1997

"Whoa! Alyssa!" Charlie shouted at the little girl who ran in between his legs, tripping him and almost knocking him into the fireplace.

"Sorry. Is there a present in there for me?" she asked excitedly, standing on tiptoes to peer over the rim of the sack.

"Yes, but we can't open any of them until we get to Aunt Molly's house," Charlie said impatiently.

"Is this one mine?" Alyssa inquired, knocking the present on top to the floor with the sound of shattering glass.

"No," Charlie answered through clenched teeth, reassembling the box's contents with a wave of his wand.

"How 'bout this one?" Alyssa asked, reaching for the next gift.

"Alyssa, there's someone I want you to meet," Charlie said, picking her up before she could touch it. "This is Juanita. She works with Gringotts like me, but not in London. She's a Curse Breaker in the Aztec temples. We met when she had to make a delivery to England and one of my dragons didn't want to let her into the vault. Juanita, this is my daughter, Alyssa."

"Hi Waneena. This is my dolly, Mary," Alyssa began, holding out a rag doll with clumps of orange hair. "We like to play Quidditch. What you have to do is find a stick from the garden and a bunch . . ."

"Why don't you check and see if Grandma and Grandpa are ready yet," Charlie interrupted. "She could talk forever," he muttered to Juanita after Alyssa had left.

"She's quite a handful," Juanita observed.

"Yeah. No help from her mother either. She left a few months after she was born and I haven't seen her since."

"What was her name again?"

"Nymphadora Tonks. When I married her I didn't know that her aunt was Bellatrix Lestrange. I think she honestly believed all those notions of purity of blood. But later she ran off to join the Death Eaters."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. She was a bit odd anyway. Purple hair and combat boots. She seemed like a rather nice person despite her looks, but I guess You-Know-Who got her on his side somehow." He sighed. "All four of her Alyssa's grandparents spend a lot of time with her, but she still wears me out. I don't know how Aunt Molly can manage with eight screaming brats while I can barely take care of one."

"Screaming brats? Isn't that a bit harsh?"

"They are. Well, Ginny's a timid little thing, and Percy is pretty mature; he has to take care of the seven others."

"Don't the other older kids help?"

"Fred and George, the nineteen-year-old twins, they help a little, but they cause just as many problems as they solve. Not to mention that they set a bad example for Taylor; now he wants to be just like them. But he usually doesn't act up around Rachel; she's pretty commanding. In fact she's one of the chief leaders of the Youth Resistance. Brilliant strategist."

"You're joking."

"Nope. She's in the same year as Harry Potter. She, Potter, and Granger make a real solid core for the organization." Charlie seemed to suddenly realize what he was saying. "Don't tell anyone that. Or even mention it anywhere. It's not really a secret, but the fewer the people who know, the better. I know you aren't feeling much of You-Know-Who's influence in Mexico, but here you can never tell who you can trust."

June 1999

"I am completely confused," George said. "How is everything so warped?"

"We've got siblings we never had before—" Fred continued.

"Some of our personalities are drastically different—"

"And I'm still hungry," Brianna took over.

"Well," said Percy. "I imagine that just from Bill and Charlie not being here, a lot of things changed. For example, what's the chance of any particular baby being a boy or girl, or having a certain personality? Instead of Ron being born, there's this Rachel person. In fact, it's quite likely that under different circumstances, children would be born at different times. I guess Mum and Dad still like the names Ron and Ginny, so they used them. Since Fred, George, and I are there and the same people we are here, all the major changes must have taken place after we came around."

"But where's my pie?" Brianna demanded.

"What happened to Tonks?" Hermione wondered, completely ignoring Brianna. "She was born before all three of you and she's totally different. The changes in your family are probably because of Mrs. Weasley's brothers surviving, but they couldn't have so strongly affected the way she'd turn out. Could it be because she didn't come into contact with you guys so Gideon and Fabian Prewett's lives didn't affect her?"

"And you never had any problems with Muggles, even when we were kids," Bill said, looking at Cassia. "We were in the same year at school until she left Hogwarts in the middle of second year," Bill explained to the rest of the family, "There were plenty of Muggle-borns in our year and she always got along well with them."

Everyone looked to Tonks and Charlie for an explanation, who were having a silent conversation with their eyes.

"Well," Charlie began, "Tonks did live with her aunt, Narcissa Malfoy, for a couple years during the war. Her parents lived in India, but her grandmother, Lucretia Black, wanted her to go to school here in England as the rest of the family had done for generations. Her parents thought that it may be safer for her there, especially since they had a secret to hide and her not going to Hogwarts would bring up old arguments that they didn't need restarted in those dark times. It actually was quite safe until they found out that Tonk's dad was a Muggle-born. They had made the same discovery several years before, but her mum saved her father that time by making it sound like she had left her husband and married a Muggle-born, since they didn't know exactly who it was. Then she remarried Tonk's dad two years later. Well, they found out about it all and Ted Tonks showed up while they were digging around in his house, and well, you can imagine what happened. That same night, Cassia snuck out of Malfoy Manor under an Invisibility Cloak and went to India to live with her mum. They didn't return to England until a few years after the defeat of You-Know-Who."

"Even when living with the Malfoys, I never had any problems with Muggles or Muggle-borns, but I was proud of my pureblood heritage," Tonks continued quietly. "Afterwards, I constantly wished that my father hadn't passed away, and I suppose that if he hadn't, I would have stayed with them and had their ideals poured into my mind for years. I don't think that I could ever hate Muggleborns or willingly join the Death Eaters, but You-Know-Who does have his ways of getting followers."

For a moment, Harry's felt a pang of worry. _He wouldn't turn out to be a Death Eater too would he? All he wished for was a family, but surely the Death Eaters wouldn't recruit him, making him part of their group the way they did Tonks, would they? Of course not. The Death-Eaters aren't exactly a homey little family. The other-world Charlie had just said that he was a leader of the resistance. And Voldemort wanted him dead. Maybe in that world the Weasleys really adopt him instead of him having to live with the Dursleys. He's best friends with Rachel. Perhaps she's a lot like Ron,_ Harry thought. He looked back into the mirror, and saw himself standing across from Charlie and Juanita in the Burrow's garden. His arm was wrapped around the shoulders of a girl whose long red hair indicated that she could only be a Weasley, and he was holding her far too close for it to be just a friendly hug. _Perhaps Rachel isn't all that much like Ron then._


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: So you know, there is another version of this story on other sites called "Of Mirrors and Wishes" that has a major character change done to make it compatible with those sites' new requirements that came up after HBP. I think this version's better, but if you started reading on a different site, be warned. This version is almost entirely Pre-HBP with a few changes to make events more probable in consideration of the new book.

The Mirror of Desire

By Eressea

Chapter 4

July 1997

"Juanita," Charlie said, "this is my cousin Rachel, her boyfriend Harry Potter, and her best friend Hermione Granger. They'll be going into seventh year this September."

"It's a pleasure," Juanita said, extending her hand.

"That's Ginny reading under that tree," Charlie said, pointing to a girl with red pigtails. "She'll be sixteen next March. The two adults chatting by the door are my Uncle Fabian and my Uncle Arthur. And this is my Aunt Molly, Uncle Arthur's wife," Charlie continued, motioning towards the round faced woman who was walking up to greet them. "Aunt Molly, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Juanita. She's a curse breaker for Gringotts like Bill. She works in the ancient temples in Mexico and Guatemala.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Molly smiled.

She squeezed the two of them so hard that Charlie thought they would soon be reduced to mush when she finally released them, and then knelt down to Alyssa to give her a kiss. "We'll be having presents and then dinner as soon as your brother Bill gets here," she said, rising back up. She then turned to Harry and Hermione to hug them. "Have you let your parents know that you're here?" she inquired.

"Yes," they answered in unison.

"Good, as long as they know where you are. These are dangerous times, and it's important to always let someone know where you are. Especially with that attack in Hogsmeade last month."

"Don't worry about my parents, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said. "Ever since your brothers and Mrs. Prewett saved my family from You-Know-Who when I was a baby, my mum's always felt that I would be safe around your family."

"Oh, Juanita, have you heard the story of how my two brothers faced You-Know-Who himself?" Molly asked, swelling with pride.

Rachel franticly shook her head "no" from behind her mother, but Juanita, who was focused on keeping Alyssa out of the bag of gifts, absent-mindedly responded that she hadn't heard.

"Well, as you may know, Harry's mother Lily Potter is the head of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and his father James Potter is a top Auror," Molly began. "James and Lily were making great strides for our side in the war and escaped from You-Know-Who in battle three times over. So in 1980, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named decided to get rid of them once and for all. They were betrayed by Sirius Black, one of their best friends. My brother Fabian was the one who found it all out. The Aurors knew someone close to the Potters was slipping information about them to You-Know-Who, so on Halloween night Fabian and Gideon searched the flat their friends Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black shared. On top of a pile of papers, Fabian found a letter detailing a plan to murder the Potters that very night. Fabian quickly opened the rest of the letters and discovered one from Black to You-Know-Who disclosing the location of the Potters' hiding place. Poor Peter must have taken off after Black as soon as he read the first one. He tried to fight him, but Black brutally murdered him along with thirteen Muggles. The biggest piece they could find of him was his finger. Luckily the Potters had a kinder fate, because as soon as my brothers saw Black's plans, they rushed straight to the Potters' home. There they found He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself duelling with James Potter! They joined in and forced You-Know-Who to retreat. They are some of the most powerful witches and wizards I have ever known. The Potters were attacked by You-Know-Who, and got away with nothing but a few scratches and some minor memory loss. Anyway, after Gideon and Fabian saved the . . . Taylor, stop picking on your little brother!"

A young boy with red hair and grass-stained knees sprinted across the garden with a textbook under his arm shrieking, "Mummy! Grace! Percy! Make him stop! Grace! Grace!"

An older boy with glasses was tailing him, holding out a jar full of spiders at his brother. "Come on Ronniekins; this big one needs a kiss!"

A tiny little girl the same age as the boy with the textbook shot out of the house and tackled the older boy. "You leave him alone!" she shouted, twisting one of his arms behind his back.

"Um, that's Ron barricading himself inside the house. He's eight," Charlie told Juanita as Molly marched over to the two children rolling around on the ground. "And you've met his twin sister Grace once in Diagon Alley, when she made that huge scene in the Magical Menagerie about the tiny animal cages and tried to free all the animals, remember? The one she's wrestling to the ground is their older brother Taylor. He'll be starting Hogwarts this fall."

"I'm not sure I'll be able to keep track of all your cousins," Juanita said, looking slightly overwhelmed.

"There are way too many of them," Charlie said, shaking his head. "Okay, Percy and the twins Fred and George are out of Hogwarts. Rachel will be in seventh year with her friends Harry and Hermione. Ginny will be in fifth year and Taylor in first year. Ron and Grace haven't started yet. Don't worry, you'll get it straight. Give it a—"

"Grace, what did I tell you about fighting?" Molly demanded, silencing the rest of the garden. "And Taylor! You should be taking care of your little brother not tormenting him."

"Yes Mum," they said, instantly contrite when faced with the rage of Molly Weasley.

"Look at you, dirt all over your nice clothes! I've had enough of this! You two get showered this minute, and tomorrow you'll start degnoming the garden."

"But we just did it yesterday," Taylor complained.

"And repainting the fence and cleaning out the shed and cooking dinner for a week!"

"But. . ."

"No buts young lady, or you'll be scrubbing the bathrooms too!" she finished, banishing them to the house with a pointed finger.

"Let's get inside before she starts another story," Charlie whispered to Juanita, following the lead of Harry, Hermione, and Rachel, who had already taken the opportunity to sneak inside.

July 1997

"Parents," Harry moaned as soon as the trio had entered the bedroom that Rachel and Ginny shared. "My mum's been driving me crazy lately. She knows that the prophecy is going to be fulfilled soon, and after the Hogsmeade Attack, she hasn't let me get more than six feet away from her."

"You said she didn't mind you coming here," Hermione said in an accusatory tone.

"Come on, Hermione, I needed to get out the house. She has the four of us barricaded up in there as if it were a fort."

"Hasn't she threatened to cancel your birthday party and keep you on a leash tied to a tree?"

"The party wasn't all that big to begin with. And Peter's covering for me."

"That just means you'll drag your little brother into trouble right along with you!"

They were interrupted by a knock at the doorframe. "Hermione, I don't understand this part of _Hogwarts, a History_," Ron said stepping into the room. "How did the founders make Hogwarts unplottable if it's right next to Hogsmeade, which is a well-known village?"

"Oh, you've read _Hogwarts, a History_? I'm so glad you've taken an interest in reading. I've been trying to get these two to read it for ages," Hermione said, jabbing her thumb in Harry and Rachel's direction. "There's an excellent map in the appendix of the new edition. I left my copy in the sitting room. Why don't you run and get it, and I'll explain it to you?"

"Bye Hermione, I'll miss you," Ron said, waving dreamily, and then hurried out of the room.

"Well, that was rather nauseating," George said, coming in to lean on Rachel and Ginny's dresser.

"Shouldn't you be out exploding things with your evil twin?" she asked him, annoyed at his presence.

"You had better not be trying to sneak another one of your Wheezes on us for testing," Rachel added, glaring at him and fingering her wand.

"Nah, Fred ran off somewhere with Angelina the moment she arrived, and we prefer to observe the results of our tests together so we have more than one opinion. Not that we would ever dream of trying to pull something on the three most powerful students at Hogwarts, especially when they're all grouped together," he added, seeing the accusatory looks on their faces. "I just came in when I heard all the ridiculous mush Ron was sprouting."

"He's a sweet little boy," Hermione said. "I'm glad he's finally taking an initiative in his studies. If he keeps this up, he'll be able to sail through his classes without too much stress and maybe even—why are you grinning at me like that?"

"He's sweet all right, but he doesn't care one bit about his studies," Rachel said. "I mentioned in passing that Hermione loves _Hogwarts, a History_, and next thing you know that boy who has just learned to read is raiding Percy's bookshelves and toiling over the first two chapters of that thousand-page book for a week before giving up."

"What? How long has this been going on?" Hermione asked.

"Ever since he learned about how you led our side to victory in the Hogsmeade Attack last month. Don't worry. It'll only last a few weeks."

"But Grace fancied Peter for almost a year."

"Hah! Now it's your turn Hermione," George laughed.

"You can try letting him know that you're seeing that Hufflepuff Beater," Harry suggested.

"But then he'll feel so rejected. Besides, we broke up a few days ago. He claims that my role in this war isn't very _ladylike_," she said, her manner turning gloomy.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said, crossing the room to wrap an arm around Hermione's shoulders. "He was probably intimidated by your intelligence and too much of a coward to stand by your side in battle."

"I know," Hermione responded, resting her head on Rachel's shoulder. "I just wish I could find a guy who can respect and appreciate what I am and what I'm doing."

"Ron respects you," Harry said sympathetically.

"Harry! She needs a man, not an eight-year-old!"

"I'm just saying that most people think she's an absolute genius and an excellent role model," Harry said defensively.

"I do appreciate their admiration," Hermione said soothingly to the two of them. "Besides, I can take this as an opportunity to help Ron develop an interest in school."

"Well, if you're looking to get him off your back that'll do the trick," George grinned. "Come, Ronnie. Let me tell you all about the eight times tables," he said in a falsetto voice. "And after that, we can learn to interpret some Arithmancy charts!"

"Oh, shut up," Hermione said, smacking him with a pillow. She turned to return to her seat on Ginny's bed. "Oh, hi Ron!" she exclaimed, spying him in the doorway. "How long have you been there?"

"Since you said that Grace liked Peter," he replied miserably.

"Oh," Hermione said in a voice a bit higher than usual. "Well why don't you come sit here, and I'll explain how Hogwarts and Hogsmeade are magically connected."

Harry and Rachel exchanged glances as Ron settled down at Hermione's side, and she opened up the heavy tome to the map.

"You see, on this map Hogwarts isn't actually next to Hogsmeade, but sort of lifted out from the page. You know how Platform Nine and Three Quarters isn't actually inside Kings Cross, but you need to go there to get on the platform? Well it's kind of the same—"

"Look, Bill and Zhara are here!" Harry interrupted as he looked down from the window at the yard in front of the house, happy to have an excuse to end the lecture. "We can open presents now."

"Hey, they've only got one huge rectangular flat package," Ron observed, joining Harry at the window. "What's that, and where are the rest of our presents?"

A/N: Lots of thanks go out to my betas Kelleypen and Jo Wicaninnish who helped me out on the other version of this fic. I also have to thank Verin, who pointed out a plot error in the other version in a review on another site.

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Many thanks to my betas Lisa and Jo Wickaninnish for helping me out with the other version of this fic.

The Mirror of Desire

By Eressea

Chapter 5

July 1997

"The Mirror of Desire," Hermione breathed as everyone present assembled in shock before the mirror. "This is the chance we've been waiting for all these years," she said excitedly. "If we all wish for the end of You-Know-Who's reign, this could mean peace for the first time in twenty-five years."

"Do you think we could get back those we lost?" Fabian asked, thinking of his daughter who had died several years ago.

"It is possible; the mirror may be capable of changing the past," Hermione mused.

"Then it's a terribly dangerous weapon," observed Gideon, who was the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry. "It should be registered at the Ministry and kept under strict security. Are you certain that no one knows that you have possession of it?" she asked Bill and Zhara.

"We took every precaution we could after we identified it in The British Museum," Bill responded. "But there was a bit of a disturbance there. It was probably nothing, but we didn't want to take any risks, so we brought it here instead of heading straight to the Ministry."

"We can't be sure that no one saw the mirror before we got to the museum," Zhara explained, absentmindedly rubbing her barely visible pregnant belly. "The most I originally worried about was common thieves; I had no idea it was a magical object."

"Well, I think the best thing to do is to contact the Ministry immediately. Harry, Hermione, Rachel, and Bill, keep a good guard on the mirror," Gideon commanded. "In the case of a security breach, use it immediately before the enemy is able to. Bill, you do know how to operate it, don't you?"

"Almost. There are a few runes evading translation, but otherwise, I've got it."

"Okay. Hermione, Percy, Bill, get on those. Molly, I need to use your Floo," Gideon said, sweeping out of the room.

"I hope we get to make a wish," Grace whispered to Ron after the adults had thrown themselves into action. "It would be just like Aladdin's genie. And if there's no You-Know-Who, Mum might let us play Quidditch even when the grownups aren't watching us," she added, tossing a Quaffle up in the air, which Taylor promptly ran by and snatched.

"You give that back!" Grace screeched, chasing him out of the sitting room.

Abandoned by his playmate, Ron sidled over to Ginny. Although Grace held the title of best friend for Ron, quiet, sweet, Ginny was his role model and confidant. An excellent listener, Ginny was always there for any of her siblings to talk to when they needed advice or comfort.

"I'd like to wish that I was older and braver and a Keeper so that Hermione will like me," Ron whispered to his fifteen-year-old sister. "Do you think that would hurt the You-Know-Who wish?"

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't," Ginny said slowly. "But you shouldn't go changing yourself to make someone like you. If they don't love you the way you are, it's not worth it."

"But then I'd be wasting the mirror," he insisted. "Mum says not to waste stuff."

"I think you're perfect just the way you are," Ginny said firmly. "In a week or two you'll find someone else that you like. And just wait until you get to Hogwarts. There will be lots of girls your own age there."

"But—" Ron was silenced by a thumping sound above his head.

"Kiiiii ya!" a high-pitched voice shouted.

The chandelier gave a violent shake and an "Owww!" emanated from the ceiling.

"I better go check on Grace and Taylor before they kill each other," Ginny told Ron, ruffling his hair.

Ron smiled after her, and then started when he heard a shattering sound somewhere outside. He glanced up at the ceiling; the chandelier was still bouncing about.

"Dad, dad," he said, running across the room to tug on Arthur's sleeve.

"What is it?"

"I heard a noise."

"It's just Grace and Taylor wrestling."

"Nooo, it came from outside by the garden, and they're upstairs. Can you check the Listening Rods?"

"Ron, I'm really busy now. . .but if it'll make you feel better," Arthur sighed seeing the anxiousness on his son's face. He activated the Rod in the garden with a swish of his wand. The wand tip began to emit the sound of a harsh female voice. Arthur turned pale.

—_adora, it's a perfect waste of effort if you can slip us through the wards without a peep but then knock over every flower pot within twenty feet. Stop giving me that look child; you're going to do this. Your squeamishness is getting on my nerves._

_But can't we just—_

_Shut up. Rodolphus, have you got the other erumpent ready yet?_

_Right over that ridge, ready to be released and more than a little angry at being all cooped up. _

The sitting room was silent by the time the conversation ended.

A/N: I know, I waited way too long to update and then ended with a cliff-hanger. Don't worry the next chapter should be up within a few days, and about three times longer.

Please, please, please review and let me know what you thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Many thanks to my betas Lisa and Jo Wickaninnish for helping me out with the post-HBP version of this fic.

The Mirror of Desire

By Eressea

Chapter 6

July 1997

"Heaven help us," Molly whispered.

After several seconds of silence, Hermione spoke up. "How are we going to take down two erumpents?"

"Aren't they just big rhinoceroses with explosive horns?" Zhara asked.

"Much worse," Hermione answered. "Their hides repel practically all known charms and curses."

"You mean charms and curses from a European wand," Juanita corrected her, taking a long rod with an obsidian spear-head from the corner where her purse and the rest of her belongings lay. It hummed deeply in her hands and the spear-tip glowed white-hot like molten metal. "An Aztec tepuztopilli can deliver a much stronger blow. It's not much use in the kitchen, we use wandless magic for that, but on the battlefield it's quite effective. I've used it against dragons, I'm sure it can work now."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Why did you feel the need to come to a Christmas celebration armed?"

"England isn't exactly the safest place in the world, and I'm used to always having it on me. After the two Peruvian Vipertooth dragons, a lethifold, and fifteen feathered serpents, each and every one of them attacking anyone who came too close to the Aztec temples they guarded, I've become accustomed to carrying it wherever I go."

Bill nodded understandingly, but several of the others continued to eye her suspiciously.

"Okay, Juanita, you head upstairs," Fabian said, taking charge. "Make sure the kids are safe and then shoot down at the erumpents from the windows. If they get too close, head back downstairs. Leave Ginny in charge of the other two children. Tell Grace that they she is under no circumstances to try to join the fight. Same goes for you," he said, looking sternly at Ron.

"You two," he said nodding to his wife and daughter in turn. "We're going to head out towards the garden and meet the Death Eaters head on. Gideon's right in the kitchen where they'll be entering, so we have to get there before they do. Angelina, you come with us.

"Harry, Rachel, and Charlie, go through the front door and surprise them from behind. Harry's in charge. Keep an eye out for the erumpents.

"The rest of you, stay here. Finish translating those runes on the mirror and use it if they reach the hallway outside the room. Protect the mirror and the children."

Ron, looking wide-eyed at everyone rushing about, went over to his mother who was throwing the curtains shut and covering them with protective charms. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I have a very important job for you," she said wrapping her arms around her son and pressing his head to her bosom. "Go take the babies and hide behind the bookshelf in the corner. I want you to pray for all of us."

Rachel lifted up a branch, making sure that the erumpents were still a good distance away. "We're clear," she whispered to Charlie, who lay in the hedges in front of her. The three of them proceeded to crawl between the wall and the bushes lining the house. First Harry then Charlie rounded the corner to the garden door where the Death Eaters were entering. Rachel was a few feet away from the corner when her pants leg snagged on a branch. She opened her mouth to call to them, and then closed it when she spied two sets of bodiless footprints moving through the grass. She gently tugged her foot to see if it would come off the branch, but the whole bush rustled far too noticeably.

"I've got it!" Rachel could hear Bill exclaim from the living room. "The charm locking the mirror is _Aquaespeclora_. The inscription is a bit misleading but. . ."

Rachel stayed stock still, hoping Bill would shut up. Unfortunately, her fervent wishing had no effect on him, as he continued. "Not what I expected from the Mirror of Desire, but unpredictability is probably what the wizard who charmed it was aiming for."

The footprints stopped, and Rachel could practically feel the wizards straining their ears under their invisibility cloaks. After several minutes, someone finally closed the window, but it was too late. One set of footprints continued down the path towards the road leading up to the Burrow, and the other hurried back to the garden door where the Death Eater's comrades were waiting. Unable to allow him to take the mirror's secrets back to the other Death Eaters, Rachel threw a red jet of light towards the man's retreating back, ripped her leg free, and sprang out of her hiding place.

The Death Eater, dodged sideways, spun around, and launched his own curse at her, as he leaped behind the corner of her father's shed, continuing to shoot curses. She was almost hit when an explosion sounded somewhere down the path to the Burrow, raising up a large cloud of dust. Hoping that Juanita was the cause of it, she forced her attention back to the Death Eater attacking her.

"Reducto!" Rachel shouted, blasting off a corner of his shelter. She heard him howl as chunks of wood flew in all directions and a moment later she was rolling away from a flash of green light he had hurled at her.

"Reducto! Stupefy!" she shouted, aiming the first spell a foot to his right so that he would jump toward her, causing the second to hit him square in the chest.

Breathing deeply, Rachel crept towards the corner of the house. She didn't notice the erumpents approaching until a bang louder than any Apparition she had ever heard sounded from upstairs. She looked towards the upstairs window and saw, if such a thing is possible, black light soar from the tip of Juanita's tepuztopilli. What looked like a black liquid sphere with a silver glow arced across over Rachel, and one of the beasts howled in response. Rachel whipped her head around to see what looked like two large rhinoceroses running down the path towards the house. The larger one was limping with an odd, somewhat jerky gait, but the other charged with grave determination. With its rhythmic stride and the smooth but explosive liquid sloshing in the long, clear horn, the erumpent could have almost seemed beautiful if viewed from a distance. But it was far too close for admiring. If the creatures were to hit the house, it could plough straight through the walls, blowing up the building and everyone inside it. There was another bang, and the bigger one stumbled. Ginny looked up to see Juanita preparing for a third shot. She turned her gaze back to the beast and smiled grimly as it fell to its side. The next moment, her smile quickly disappeared. Evading the bigger creature about to fall on it, the second erumpent altered its course so that it was heading straight for her. A small shriek and then a thump from the upstairs window told Rachel that she was on her own. With the Death Eaters right around the corner to the right and the pile of cauldrons, boots, and toy broomsticks that Grace, Ron, and Taylor left by the door, blocking any movement to the left, Rachel had nowhere to go.

"Stupefy! Reducto! Stupefy!" she shouted. The red beams hit the erumpent and bounced harmlessly off, one streaking over her head to hit a trellis on the side of the house, burning a hole through a bundle of the vines creeping up its lattice.

As the creature crashed through the far wall of the shed and the explosive liquid in the horn blew it to pieces, Rachel leapt on the trellis faster than she ever knew she could. The trellis gave a violent shake and began to tilt forward when it was hit with bits of flying wood as the erumpent came running through the second wall.

"Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus!" she shrieked blindly, squeezing her eyes shut as the erumpent drew up beneath her, mouth opened wide. She felt something crack as the nose of the erumpent crashed into her shin. She clung to the trellis for a few seconds and then looked down. The erumpent was frozen beneath her with her wand shoved down its throat. After waiting for her heart to slow down, Rachel muttered "_Mobilicorpus_" directing the erumpent away from her. Without the beast pressing up against it, the trellis tipped and fell straight for the ground. Twisting herself around to avoid the horn and its explosive power, Rachel slammed face-first onto the ground. She sat up, checking for injuries. Her head, wrist, and shin all throbbing, she slid backwards on her bottom toward the house. When she was halfway there, Harry and Charlie came sprinting around the corner.

Charlie hefted her up over his shoulder and ran into the winding front hall, Harry close behind him. Harry cast a quick impermeable charm on the front door. "That won't hold them for long," Charlie said, as he helped Rachel to stand on her good leg. "There were eight of them in the kitchen, and two of them were behind us when we ran. They've got Grace, Taylor, and Ginny. One of them managed to run off with a folder full of the Order's plans, but Angelina, Uncle Fabian, and his family went after him; they can probably catch him before he reaches the borders of the property and can Apparate away. Dad was putting up a good fight when the Death Eaters in the kitchen saw us and started throwing Unforgivables. We tried to fight back, and I don't think one of them will be waking up for quite a few hours, but we couldn't even make it inside the kitchen. That's six left, plus the one who went to set the erumpents on us. Though I see you've taken care of those beasts."

"Do you think we can get to the sitting room without them noticing?" Rachel asked.

"No way. They're ready for a fight, and they'll be listening out for anyone passing that kitchen," Charlie said, peering around the corner of the crooked hallway towards the sitting room door.

"Well, it can't be worse than when you faced Lord Voldemort himself, now can it," Rachel said, smiling darkly at Harry as she prepared to fight.

Charlie shuddered at the name, but gazed at Harry in awe. "Is it true that he has the face of a snake and eyes as red as blood?" he asked.

"Yeah, he is pretty ugly. Must've had trouble getting a date in Hogwarts," he laughed stiffly. No one joined him.

"Okay, we need to head on down to the kitchen. Maybe if we perform Mobilicorpus on ourselves we can float—"

The front door began to rattle ominously in its frame. There were two heavy thumps and then a terrible blast as the door flew off its hinges, two bodies falling onto the threshold.

"I think we may be in trouble," Charlie muttered.

A tall silhouette appeared in the doorway, robes billowing. Harry stared at the figure, trying to make out a face. His eyes widened when he saw a glint of red, and he whispered, "No, I'm in trouble."

Trembling with fury, Lily Potter stepped over two unconscious Death Eaters and approached her son. "What part," she growled, "of _don't leave the house_ do you fail to understand?" Her green eyes flashed behind the slightly graying red hair that had fallen into her face.

Drawn by the explosion, a Death Eater came hurtling around the corner of the hallway. "Tepestrellatae!" Rachel shouted with a grand sweeping motion with her wand.

"I'll deal with you later," Lily told Harry, reaching inside her robes and turning towards the Death Eater who was frantically trying to beat enormous bats off his face.

Lily pulled a large, delicate bottle out of her robes. She gently placed it in into a sling and swung it in wide circles over her head. Just after the Death Eater began to stumble towards them, she launched it down the hall so that it shattered just behind him, splashing him with a deep purple liquid, which proceeded to creep up his legs and across his back to soon cover his body. After a few seconds he suddenly shrunk down to the size of the bats attacking him with a low pitched _SHLOOP_.

"A variation on a shrinking solution," she explained, seeing the shocked look on Rachel and Charlie's faces. "I kept the last ingredient separated from the rest with a thin wall of glass so it wouldn't mix until the bottle broke. And I added an enzyme to make it expand and reach full potency much faster than the usual six hours."

"Added a what?" Rachel asked.

"It speeds up. . ." Lily snatched a new vial out of her cloak as a second Death Eater tried to sneak up on them, but before she was able to launch it, the Death Eater collapsed.

"Come on," said Gideon, running around the corner of the hallway. "Three of them left the kitchen a minute ago. Juanita was stupefied a while ago. They took the kids and might've gone to the sitting room. I took down the one who let the erumpents loose when they left him to guard me. We've got four down and five on the loose, one of them being chased down somewhere by Fabian and his group. We need to use the mirror right now if the others haven't done it yet. Charlie, take Rachel. Let's go."

They ran quietly down the hall and around the corner. Gideon was pulling his wand out to unlock the sitting room when they found the door lying at their feet, the sitting room alight with curses and hexes.

"Charlie and Rachel, take care of the children. Lily and Harry, cover me," Gideon commanded, leading them into the sitting room.

The destruction inside was illuminated by the light of hexes and curses flying across the room. Gifts were strewn over the floor; the table they originally rested on was upside down with two legs sticking up in the air and the other two lying nearby. The glass pitcher of punch was shattered and the cake Molly had labored over for hours was smeared across the wall. Hermione, Bill, Penny, and George were trying to curse the Death Eaters while crouched behind an overturned couch with its upholstery transfigured into iron. The three Death Eaters, although outnumbered, were winning the fight. Two of them were launching curses at the Weasleys behind the couch while the other was casting protective charms around all of them. Arthur, Molly, Percy, Zhara, and Fred all lay tangled on the floor, the side effects of various jinxes disfiguring their bodies. The mirror, however, still stood tall behind the couch.

Rachel sent a chair flying toward the masked Death Eaters from behind. Two of them ducked, but it struck the one who was casting protective charms soundly in the back of the head. He twisted around with a confused look on his face and fell to the ground before he could speak.

One of the Death Eaters threw an orange jet of light toward Rachel which she easily dodged.

"Stupefy!" Gideon shouted, running around the room with Charlie to the couch that hid the rest of the family.

"_Avada—_" the Death Eater began, but he was stopped short when Penny took the opportunity to fire several curses at him.

He and his companion got behind Rachel, putting her between them and Penny before shooting stunners that arced around her until Penny was hit.

"_Expelliarmus!_" the other Death Eater shrieked.

Rachel's wand rocketed out of her hand and she fell to the ground with the force of the spell.

"I've told you before, child," the Death Eater began, drawing up above her and raising her wand, "that I would see to it that—"

Rachel spun around on the floor, tripped the Death Eater with her legs and then delivered a kick to the face before her head hit the carpet, breaking her clay mask along with her nose.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Rachel observed. She made a lunge for the woman's wand, but she yanked it away from her grasp.

Rachel rolled to her feet and Harry rushed to her side. He and Bellatrix eyed each other with wands extended.

"You stay away from her," Harry growled.

"I'll make you a deal," Bellatrix said to Harry, rising from the floor. "You come with us and we'll see to it that your darling sweetheart lives to a ripe old age."

"What, does he look stupid or something?" Rachel spat. She paused, and then turned to give Harry a look that said, _Don't fall for it._

Bellatrix smirked.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, and then stopped, feeling the tip of a wand was poking into the back of his head.

"The Dark Lord believes that you have become far too much of a nuisance," a smooth male voice said from behind him.

Lily vaulted over the back of the couch and put a small crystal vial into her slingshot. "Don't you dare touch my baby!"

"You can do whatever you want," Gideon declared, "because we have the power to undo it all." He moved behind the mirror, which was facing the wall. "Hermione, perform the charm to activate it."

Bill turned around and aimed his wand at the back of the mirror. "_Aquae—_"

"Don't!" a child's voice shouted.

In the doorway stood Taylor, Ginny, and Grace.

"Get back upstairs!" Hermione shrieked.

"She's a Metamorphamagus!" Taylor continued. "Uncle Gideon's still tied up in the kitchen and told us. We found him there just now when we came down to help."

"Shatter it!" the male Death Eater shouted.

With a jerk of her wand, Hermione lifted the mirror up and over them so that it stood just behind the couch and angled sideways so that Gideon Prewett could not reach its plane. She stood next to it and opened her mouth to curse the male Death Eater.

He pushed his wand harder at the back of Harry's head. "_Avada—"_

With a swing of her slingshot, Lily silenced him in an explosion of blue smoke. When it cleared, the Death Eater stood encased in a smooth, thick layer of ice.

"_Despersonatus!_" Charlie shouted, thrusting his wand at the impostor as he gazed at the frozen Death Eater. His features melted and bubbled into smooth young skin.

Charlie's wand slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor.

"Tonks."

"Mummy?" Alyssa asked, wriggling out from behind the bookshelf where she was hiding with Ron and the babies.

Charlie stared at his ex-wife, who stood defiantly next to her young daughter.

"How could you?" he asked softly.

"Our relationship ended when you sided with these blood-traitors against me. A pure-blood like you should understand what we were fighting for. But it turns out you're no better than a Mudblood."

"Alyssa is still your daughter! By coming here you put your own child at risk."

"I have my duties," she said stiffly.

"You have a duty to your family," he insisted.

"I am doing my duty to my family!" she shouted, almost hysterically. "The world is not made up of this one little girl. I've got aunts, uncles, cousins. I had a father. And brothers." Her face hardened. "I am protecting the family I have left from the Muggle scum that taint this earth. There are necessary risks, but believe me, well before this war is over, I am taking my daughter with me and you will beg for forgiveness that will never be granted!"

She turned to the mirror which now stood out of her reach, then looked at the children standing in the doorway.

"Soon you and I will agree that it would be better if you had never been born. You'll see what happens to those who get in the way of the Dark Lord!"

She pushed past Bill, Charlie, and George towards the mirror, knocking them to the floor with a wide-arced wave of her wand. Harry leapt over the couch and stood defiantly in front of the mirror, wand extended.

"Harry, don't!" Lily shouted.

He worriedly glanced at his mother, but stood his ground as Tonks rushed forward.

"Reducto!" Tonks shouted.

Charlie jumped forward and pulled her backwards down to the ground. The red lance of light emitted from her wand hit the ceiling as Hermione tapped the face of the mirror with her wand, yelling, "_Aquaespeclora_!"

In the sitting room of the Burrow where the Weasley family was watching the consequences of their wishes, the mirror rippled and cleared to show the reflection of the onlookers.

A/N: Okay, there's just an epilogue left.

Please review! (Really, I'm not just saying this to take up space. Write something. Good, bad, whatever you thought of it.)


End file.
